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The Click

November 24 - 30

by Brian Hanson, Nov 24th 2007

It's the Holidays, folks! That most magical and depressing time of year, where togetherness and warmth and bitterness and loneliness are magnified tenfold, as we all hurry to the mall to either buy gifts for our loved ones or to sell expensive crap to snobby customers! And then, at the end of the cold, cold day, each one of us can look forward to shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world, curl up on our couches with a nice warm blanket, a cup of cocoa, and absorb ourselves with the true meaning of togetherness: Television.

Blackjack
(Sci Fi)Monday November 26 11:00pm

The Sci Fi Channel's usual stable of Monday night anime takes a breather for a week in order to air something I thought would never make it to US television, much less a relatively popular network like Sci Fi: Osamu Dezaki's feature-length adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's much lauded super-doctor, Blackjack. I love, and I mean love, Osamu Tezuka, and Blackjack was one of his more ambitious projects - a bizarre amalgamation of Tezuka's well-researched medical training, dark intrigue, and his usual iconoclastic cartoonish humor. Dezaki's adaptation sadly omits much of the humor and plays things relatively straight, but its still a solid production with slick, detailed animation and an engaging story. The dub has aged about as gracefully as you'd expect of your typical mid-90's production, which is to say, better than you remembered, but not up to par with current offerings.

Speaking of anime on Monday nights, those of you Canadians with access to what I hear tell is called the "Super Channel," some kind of supposedly Super network carried only by one solitary Satellite provider, can tune in on Monday nights and get much of the same Manga Entertainment-produced titles as aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the US! You've got your Noeins and Tokkos and Street Fighter II Vs, as well as the heretofore-unseen-in-the-US Tactics! I would make a note of this in the listings proper but its hard enough to get detailed schedule information for Canadian television as it is, and unless I can be convinced (e.g. bribed) otherwise it seems sort of fruitless to hunt down such info for such an incredibly niche network. But! At least those of you for whom this might be concerting have been notified, correct? Or, you have probably known about all of this already and don't need my snarky attitude reminding you about it. Sorry.

The Black Lagoon Company is out to kick some serious Neo-Nazi ass to recover their stolen bounty, which is something I think we can all get behind. Unless you are a Neo-Nazi. In which case, why are you watching animation produced by non-honkeys? Shame on you.

Ichigo attempts to hurry along his deadly battle with the exasperatingly strong Zaraki in order to save the wilting life of his buddy Chad, but will the Captain be such a pushover? My money's on "no." That dude has scars. The kind of scars that say "Yes, I am a man that is totally raw."

Saya triumphantly returns from her two-year hiatus invigorated and strengthened. Unlike when I came back from my one-week hiatus hung over and with more citations than one would think humanly possible.

The gaunt and unreasonably intelligent L is introduced to the rest of the police force, as the baggy-eyed madman closes in on his trail of the Death Note-wielding Light. Like Holmes and Moriarty, except all muddled with moral dilemmas and supernatural stuff.

Alpha Zeta? Knock it off, guys. You're not going to sound smart writing for a children's show about dinosaurs by using fancy-pants names for things. Regardless, the D-Team unknowingly heads to their enemy's hideout when they find some new Dinosaur there, hijinx ensue.

This week on Space Opera With Giant Robots (in Space), the mighty battleships of the opposing forces, the Minerva and the Archangel, clash in a grand, orgiastic spectacle of clanging metal and pyew-pyewing lasers.

Remember when these episodes were supposed to air last week? They were! Unfortunately they didn't - it's "sweeps" month, that wonderful time of year when networks compete to get the most viewers possible so they can charge exorbitant fees for their advertisers based upon view-gaining stunts like, say, airing a repeat of the first Naruto movie instead of any of their regular programming. Could've been worse, though; they could've shelved Naruto entirely for a marathon of insipid High School Musical-inspired live action shows.

The demon-hunting crew of androgynous pretty-boys come across a mysterious village where seemingly human villagers attack at random, and a duo of supposed "miracle workers" who mysteriously can resurrect the dead. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is, much like the non-functional X-Ray Specs of our youth.

Here, alas, is another Canadian TV conundrum: Shin-chan has already run its initial 20-episode course in Canada, although there are obviously more than 20 episodes completed at this time - Adult Swim has them airing in the next few months - and the fact that the listings don't indicate any reruns, are these indeed episodes 21 and onward? Best to err on the side of caution, as always, so it's TBA for now. But I wouldn't be surprised if you lucky Canucks got a few new episodes of that poo-obsessed preschooler, so be on the lookout.

It's the last episode of the Tenjho Tenge TV series, as Souichiro and Bob reminisce on their one-year anniversary since joining the Juken Club, and all the faces pummeled and spilled blood and jiggling boobs. Good times.

If there is anybody reading this who has STILL not seen Howl's Moving Castle, please raise your hands. Then, walk directly into oncoming traffic, so that history may judge you harshly, as you so deserve. You suck.

That about covers all the noteworthy stuff - your standard-issue warmed-over repeats lie below, like starving, unwanted children from developing countries, and twice as frail and smelly! I'll be back next week!

Hope counts down the best moments where Yoko Kanno brought her A-game to Cowboy Bebop. Plus: your poll results, and vote for your favorite Bebop episodes!― 3 2 1, Let's Jam! It's time for a Cowboy Bebop themed episode of The Set List. This week, I've ranked my Top 10 Musical Moments from the legendary jazz-and-blues inspired anime, and you can check them out in the video below! (Please note that we...

PONYCAN USA launched a few months back with two shows: Denki-Gai and Yuki Yuna is a Hero. Executive Director Kazuyoshi Fukuba answers a few questions about what to expect, and what's up with those prices.― PONYCAN USA is the newly-minted US distribution arm of Pony Canyon, which has been in the Japanese media business since 1966. PONYCAN USA follows the example set by Aniplex of America, in that th...

Shinichiro Watanabe's zany sci-fi showcase for his artist pals winds up on bluray today, loaded with special features in a limited edition with a hefty price tag. Mike Toole investigates.― Space Dandy is a series full of magic-- a magic that first reveals itself late in episode 1, during a sequence in which the show's titular hero and his new pal, Meow, are forced to run away from a pack of jumbo-si...

Find out if you won!― Thank you (again) for entering our contest (again). Winners: Patrick Nakasone, Honolulu, Hi Hiddi Jordan, Bailey, Mi Saul Diaz, Arleta, Ca Watch for our next give-away coming SOON! In the meantime, head over to SpaceDandy.com to find out more about FUNimation's awesome Space Dandy sets.

This little-seen family adventure about a group of tanuki living in Kyoto has careful writing and beautiful scenery; Nick Creamer thinks it might just be a modern classic.― In the guidebook accompanying Eccentric Family, series composer Shotaro Suga speaks frankly of the difficulty of condensing an entire book into an anime, and the question of where to even begin telling the story. “There are just ...

Every good fantasy series has a few incredible elf ladies on display. Today, Lynzee decides to finally share the elf.― The term "bombshell" was coined, very appropriately, during World War II to refer to the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and other sex symbols of the era. There aren't any elves in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but there are plenty of wild, voluptuous fantasy women wielding swor...

Deadman Wonderland is a dark, unsettling look into a private prison abusing the system for the whims of the Warden and a few governmental higher ups.― Ever since 1864, a “wonderland” has been a world where the rules of logic do not apply, a carnival that can be by turns fun and frightening. Deadman Wonderland has been playing with that definition since its first volume, and now in its seventh we beg...